Harper’s eyes saddened, then she tugged Tilly into a hug. “Well, you’ll always have me. And Cody, because we’re kind of a package deal these days.”
Tilly hugged her friend back, not realizing how much she needed it until this moment. “Thank you.”
“You sure you’re going to be okay today?”
“Yeah.” She pulled back. “I’m going to spend a few hours at work but get there late and leave early. I’ll do everything else I need to do here.”
“Okay. Call if you need anything.”
When Harper left, she didn’t get right up. She didn’t eat the cereal either. She had no appetite, just took a few sips of the coffee before finally lifting her phone and turning it on. No voice messages, but one text. It took her a few breaths of courage to click into it.
Kayden: I’m sorry. Can we talk?
She clicked out of the text and dropped the cell onto the bed as if it had burned her.Jesus. She scrubbed her hands over her face, a part of her wishing she could not go to work today, but the other part of her not willing to hide. She’d done nothing wrong. There was no reason she had to stop living her life.
She’d get through today and each day after, and hopefully soon, working in the same place as him would get easier.
Over the next half hour, she changed, did her hair, and applied enough makeup so that her face didn’t look so red and puffy. Well, mostly not red and puffy.
When she got to the visitors center, she had to work up the courage to get out of the car. It took more time than it shouldhave. Yesterday, she’d come here looking for refuge. Today…today she’d be okay if she just got through it without running into Kayden.
Inside, she gave Pixie a small nod before moving to her office and closing the door. That’s when she took her first full breath. This was good. She was at work. She wasn’t having a meltdown. Now she just needed to get through the next seven hours.
“We hada break on Jake’s shooting.”
Kayden’s gaze scanned the parking lot from where he stood on a rise, barely able to concentrate on the phone call from Eastern. He’d stuck close to this part of the trail all morning, just because it had a great view of the parking lot. He needed to know when Tilly got here. He needed to know she was okay.
“What’s the break, Eastern?”
He was still pissed at his brother for not telling him about Tilly’s father. Of course, the rational part of him understood that he hadn’t been allowed to, but the irrational part of him…that was angry as hell.
“Jake remembered what he saw before he was shot.”
At the beat of silence, Kayden blew out a breath. “You gonna make me guess what it was?”
“A watch…and it was covered in blood.”
“A watch?”
“Yep. He said it was unisex so could belong to a male or female. We must have missed it because it was under a patch of dirt. Maybe it fell off the person as they were leaving the scene.”
“It’s gone though, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s something.” His brother paused. “You still pissed at me for not telling you about Martin Taylor?”
“Yes.” The word was instant and he didn’t care how fucking immature it was.
Eastern sighed. “Technically, it was an ongoing case and I wasn’t supposed to share it.”
“Screw ongoing cases. I’m your bother.”
“Kayden.”
Kayden’s back teeth ground together. “It’s not your fault. And it’s not hers either. If I’d done more to trust her, she might have told me.” He straightened when he saw Tilly’s car pull up in the parking lot.
“Well, if you see her father, call me,” Eastern continued. “He has a lot to answer for in this town.”
“If I see the asshole, I’ll be doing more than calling you.”
